Photograph by: Frank Gunn
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

MANCHESTER — They lingered out on the hallowed ground of Old Trafford. As if they didn’t want to leave. As if they felt they’d earned the right to stay.

Christine Sinclair sat on the ground, too tired and too angry to budge. Midfielder Sophie Schmidt couldn’t be bothered to hide her tears.

They all looked dazed, disoriented, disbelieving, like victims who’d stumbled out of an auto wreck.

“I just don’t think any of us could believe what happened,’’ murmured a misty-eyed Melissa Tancredi. “Honestly. That’s why we didn’t leave, probably. I just didn’t want to leave because I couldn’t believe that’s what happened. That was our game. That was our win to have. We put it all out there on the field.

And it was just ... taken away.”

Conspiracy theorists, queue up.

In what was undoubtedly one of the most compelling sporting events in recent Canadian history — and arguably the greatest women’s match ever played, particularly given the stakes — John Herdman’s gallant group were knocked out of gold-meal contention 4-3 deep into added extra time by the U.S.

The No.-1 ranked Americans, the poster gals for the women’s game, were the beneficiaries of virtually every call from Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen. Coincidence? Not from a Canadian viewpoint. Sour grapes? Nope. Not in this case. At least not in any sort of balanced viewpoint.

“We outplayed the Americans the whole game, and never we’ve done that,’’ said keeper Erin McLeod. “[The refereeing) was one-side the whole way. This is heartbreaking. We feel we got robbed.’’

An Alex Morgan header in the 123rd minute, mere seconds from penalties, killed off the Canadian gold-medal aspirations that seemed so tantalizingly close after taking the lead. Now they must play for bronze on Thursday, versus France, in Coventry. But this will be hard to shake.

“To play the way we did ... we feel like the ref took it away from us,’’ stewed skipper Christine Sinclair. No adjectives could describe Sinclair’s three-goal performance, two off headers and the first an incisive finish off a Tancredi layoff.

“We didn’t feel like we lost. It’s a shame that in a game like that, which is so important, the ref decided the result before it started.’’

The Canadians were furious, and rightly so, with two critical sequences. First, a missed handball that clearly struck the arm of American midfielder Megan Rapinoe at one end of the pitch, followed by a rarely-if-ever called delay of game on McLeod for not playing the ball within six seconds. That led to an indirect free kick inside the area, about 12 yards out —and that led to a subsequent hand ball call levied on central defender Marie-Eve Nault (which was, glory be, spotted!).

McLeod acknowledged she’d received a warning from a linesman at the start of the second half not to dawdle. “She said ‘Don’t delay the play too much,’ but it wasn’t like a real warning. She said I held the ball for 10 seconds. She obviously counted the time when I was on the ground.’’

“I think the referee was very one-sided. I was stunned when it happened, when I got the indirect free kick.’’

Sinclair claimed that when, as captain, she approached Pedersen to discuss such a rare and controversial decision, there was no explanation forthcoming.

“She actually giggled,’’ fumed the skipper, “and said nothing. Classy. You never see the six-second rule call without a warning, first of all. Then to have a penalty shot called as a result. Just shocking. That’s all I said to her.

“Every single one of us did everything we possibly could to get a result. I am so proud of our team. I’ve never been prouder.’’

At his post-match media availability, coach John Herdman initially shied away from getting involved in the furore, but as the conversation went on, his true feelings emerged.

“When a ball’s struck at that pace ...,’’ he said of the call given against Nault. “We’re deeply disappointed. We wanted to see a gold medal hanging around our necks. It wasn’t like [McLeod] purposely tried to slow the game down, where you see goalkeepers really cheating. She wasn’t doing that. She was waiting for our fullback to get tucked in. We didn’t want to launch it.

“[Pedersen] will have to sleep in bed tonight after watching the replays. She’s got that to live with. We’ll move on from this. I wonder if she’ll be able to.’’

A real pity that a cloud of controversy has settled overtop of one of the great sporting events we’ve witnessed in recent years. The Canadians may not be playing for gold Thursday, but they’ve become the feel-good story of these Games for the courage they displayed under the circumstances.

“There was something about just letting those girls go for it,’’ said Herdman. “We could’ve just parked the bus and taken it to penalties but that was wrong. The game was open, it was going either way. Just let the girls have a good crack at this and finish with honour.’’

Re-calibrating for France so quickly after expending so much energy and emotion wouldn’t, you’d think, be an easy task.

Think again, countered Sinclair.

“We came here for a medal,’’ she said defiantly. “It might not be the colour we want, but I don’t think I’d want to be the team that plays us next. Maybe next game the ref will wear a Canadian jersey.’’

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